North Korean missile tests draws outcry, calls for calm

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea, Japan and the United States condemned a barrage of short-range missiles fired by North Korea yesterday, while Russia and China called for calm.

North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles into the sea between the communist state and Japan yesterday, flouting a United Nations Security Council resolution and sending a message of defiance to the United States on its Independence Day holiday.

North Korea has a record of timing missile tests to coincide with the Fourth of July; the tests yesterday constituted the North's biggest one-day missile barrage since it launched seven missiles on July 4, 2006.

After a North Korean nuclear test May 25, the council adopted a resolution that, among other sanctions, barred the country from testing ballistic missiles. North Korea had promised it would respond to the resolution with more tests of its ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.

The North's neighbors swiftly condemned the tests. In a statement, Moon Tae-young, a South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman, called them “provocations that clearly violated” the council resolution.

In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura called the tests “a serious act of provocation against the security of neighboring countries, including Japan.”

The U.S. State Department said that the tests were “not helpful” and that North Korea should “refrain from actions that aggravate tensions.”

Russia and China called on all parties to show restraint and avoid actions that could further destabilize the situation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

A South Korean military official said the missiles launched yesterday were believed to have flown 250 to 310 miles, indicating that they might be Scud-type missiles.